Lucknow: Lucknow on Sunday witnessed the excitement of T20 cricket taking over as six squads – Gorakhpur Lions, Kanpur Superstars, Kashi Rudras, Lucknow Falcons, Meerut Mavericks, and Noida Super Kings – embarked on a cricketing frenzy in the Players Draft. The event, organized by the Uttar Pradesh Cricket Association (UPCA), marked the selection of talented cricketers who will vie for glory in the highly anticipated UPT20 tournament.
Commencing on August 30th in Kanpur, this tournament promises intense competition and sporting spectacle.
Diverging from the conventional player auction, the drafting process kicked off with rival franchises strategically picking players from four distinct categories: Marquee, Grade A, Grade B, and Grade C. The grand ceremony unfolded at The Grand Taj Mahal Hotel in Lucknow on a momentous Sunday.
The Marquee Players category was adorned with cricketers who boasted experience with the Indian Cricket Team or participation in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Meanwhile, Grade A encapsulated players who had displayed their prowess in the senior domestic cricket tournament hosted by the BCCI. Grade B consisted of players who had showcased their skills in the BCCI's domestic cricket tournament, and Grade C included a diverse array of players who had registered for the UPT20 Players Draft.
According to the rules of the UPT20 Players Draft, each franchise had the privilege to select a total of 20 players. The picking order was determined through a lucky draw preceding each category, adding an extra layer of intrigue to the proceedings. Moreover, a tight one-minute window was allotted to each franchise to make their selections.
Noteworthy was the valuation of players: Marquee players commanded a price tag of INR 10 Lakhs apiece, Grade A players were secured for INR 5 Lakhs each, while Grade B and Grade C players came at INR 3 Lakhs and INR 1.5 Lakhs respectively.
The highlight of the UPT20 Players Draft unfolded during the selection of marquee players. The roster of marquee players featured the explosive youngster Rinku Singh, seasoned pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar, and stylish batter Nitish Rana. This illustrious list also included names such as Shivam Mavi, Karan Sharma, Dhruv Chand Jurel, Akshdeep Nath, Priyam Garg, Yash Dayal, Mohsin Khan, Ankit Rajput, and Kartik Tyagi, generating captivating moments and setting the stage for an exhilarating cricketing showdown.
Following are the teams' composition after the UPT20 Players Draft:
Gorakhpur Lions: Dhruv Chand Jurel, Mohsin Khan, Sameer Choudhary, Shivam Sharma, Abhishek Goswami, Siddharth Yadav, Yashovardhan Singh, Vijay Kumar, Karan Chaudhary, Ankit Chaudhary, Sunil Kumar, Rishabh Bansal, Divyansh Chaturvedi, Kaartikaya Singh, Abdul Rehman, Anshuman Pandey, Ankit Rathi, Rishav Rai, Vivek Kumar, Puneet Gupta.
Kanpur Superstars: Akshdeep Nath, Ankit Rajput, Sameer Rizvi, Aaqib Khan, Jashmer Dhankar, Ansh Yadav, Adarsh Singh, Rahul Rajpal, Shanu Saini, Prashant Chaudhary, Vineet Panwar, Pranjal Saini, Kushagra Sharma, Vivek, Ajay Kumar, Rishabh Rajput, Shivam Saraswat, Kartikeya Yadav, Vishal Pandey, Shubh Khanna.
Kashi Rudras: Karan Sharma, Shivam Mavi, Prince Yadav, Shiva Singh, Atal Behari Rai, Boby Yadav, Akshay Dubey, Priyanshu Pandey, Aranav Baliyan, Ankur Malik, Kirtivardhan Upadhyay, Siddharth Chaudhary, Deepanshu Yadav, Siddharth Mishra, Rajat Singhwal, Kamil Khan, Abhishek Yadav, Sachin Singh Bishem, Mirza Shahbaz, Ajay Singh.
Lucknow Falcons: Priyam Garg, Yash Dayal, Anjaneya Suryavanshi, Aaradhaya Yadav, Kartikeya Jaiswal, Harsh Tyagi, Kritagya Singh, Zeeshan Ansari, Nadeem, Shaurya Singh, Vishal Gaur, Mukesh Kumar, Sawan Singh, Vineet Dubey, Mohd. Amaan, Satya Prakash, Sudhanshu Sonkar, Pradeep Yadav, Vikrant Chaudhary, Shubhang Raj.
Meerut Mavericks: Rinku Singh, Kartik Tyagi, Divyansh Joshi, Madhav Kaushik, Kunal Yadav, Swastik Chikara, Purnank Tyagi, Shoaib Siddiqui, Vaibhav Chaudhary, Uvaish Ahmed, Rituraj Sharma, Akshay Sain, Yogendra Doyla, Abhinav Tiwari, Parth Jain, Jamshed Alam, Rohit Rajpal, Rajeev Chaturvedi, Kuldeep Kumar, Yuvraj Yadav.
Noida Super Kings: Nitish Rana, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Saurabh Kumar, Samarth Singh, Almas Shaukat, Prashant Veer, Aditya Sharma, Naman Tiwari, Kunal Tyagi, Arjun Bharadwaj, Kishan, Shiven Malhotra, Shantanu, Osho Mohan, Chaitanya Prashar, Mohd Javed, Manish Solanki, Rohit Dwivedi, Nilotpalendu Pratap, Tarun Pawadia.
